Roundup: Fields practices with Panthers

Couch agrees to one-year deal with PackersNfl

Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, June 15, 2004

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Less than 10 months after being diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, Carolina Panthers linebacker Mark Fields was back on the field Monday, practicing at full speed with his teammates.

Fields, 31, has been little more than an onlooker during the first two weeks of the team's minicamp. Doctors cleared him for practice, and he began working in team drills — with the staring defense — for the first time since the cancer diagnosis ended his 2003 season last August.

"Lance Armstrong said it best — when you get a second chance, you're going to go all out," Fields said.

Meanwhile, Panthers wide receiver Donald Hayes will miss four to six weeks after fracturing his shoulder last week.